Skip to main content

Namaste from Kurintar

I am listening to the rushing Trisuli river as I write this. Wifi here..woo hoo and cheaper than Kathmandu. I am having a relaxing day. The rest of the group....yes there is a group if you can call four of us a group....14 cancelled and two were apparently on the manifest from London to Delhi but nothing from there and cannot be tracked down.....anyway as I was saying the rest of the group went to Gorkha today. I opted after much soul searching to take a day off...there are 1000 stone steps to negotiate and my knees are still recovering from a hike the other day. Sometimes you just have to be sensible. And it's no hardship - this is a simple resort but lovely. I had hoped to use the palatial swimming pool but unless it warms up.....I want to go down to the river and take photographs but only plan to do that once due to all the steps so hanging in for the sun. It isn't 10 a,m, yet so lots of time.

It's been a great few days. Our little resort in Nagarkot was lovely and we watched the sun rise over the himalaya along with a very playful puppy. After breakfast we hiked up to a ridge for a gorgeous view - I was huffing and puffing like a steam engine due to the altitude and alas...not being in shape. I am so glad I did not do a trek. We were accompanied on the way back by a dog., Our leader was telling us that they cannot feed the stray dogs on a trek as they will follow the whole way which can be bad at higher levels. Yaks do not like dogs and will attack; the dogs run and hide behind the humans and the humans get attacked instead. One group leader was attacked this way and was airlifted out., Sue (our leader who is a guy but we call him Sue for short...yeah I know a boy named Sue) told us he had one fellow turn up for a trek in a suit and dress shoes and insisted that is what he would wear despite being told not to!!! Needless to say he dropped out after two days.

Anyway we also walked to a local village which was interesting., Nepal has 30 million people - about 43% are literate. Attending school is the law but in small villages it is not followed and children are kept home to care for younger siblings. Birth control is being promoted and in cities people have one or two children but again in the villages five or six children are normal...

Yesterday we visited the medieval city of Bhakapur which was beautiful and like being in another world. Beautiful temples with intricate carvings. Then we had a four hour drive here.

If the rest of the group are up to it later this afternooon we will walk across a suspension bridge (all very modern) to a nearby village. I somehow doubt they will be so we will do that tomorrow morning and then hopefully do the cable car trip to the Manakamana Temple. Only down side...Saturday is a big animal sacrifice day. Ick. I didn't realize Hindus were such a blood thirsty lot - never heard about animal sacrifices in India but I am sure it's the same. Up in Gorkha today animal sacrifices as well - yeah I am going to walk up all those steps to see that....yep where do I sign up.

After that we will head to Pokhara for three nights so looking forward to that. I will get some laundry done at the hotel...I've been washing out my smalls but need some t-shirts and trousers done.

They have a Christmas tree up here...actually two...but it sure doesn't seem like Christmas which isn't a bad thing. I loved having all the Christmas stuff in London but it's nice to be away.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Peeing on fish or a fish out of water

Well this morning we headed off by boat to Siem Reap.  Due to the low water on the Tonie Sap Lake (more like a river until near the end of the trip when it widened considerably) the trip would be an 8 hour one... It was supposed to be boring but ended up as anything but...in no certain order...let's see.... We had a rest stop (turned out to be the only one) along the way and the loo was just a hole over the lake and there were fish circling around underneath.  Yes it was just a hole in the floor...you definitely had someone watch your stuff while you went in or one false move and your camera/purse or whatever would be in the lake.  The fish either like the warm pee coming in or they are pervs and like to see ladies parts.  We were just a few minutes out when all of a sudden there was something flying over me and jumping all over the floor - a little fish!  Guess he wanted to join the tour.  Roger reached down and scooped him up while I hooted and hollered.  Okay it wasn&#

A walk along the coffin trail (and a couple of lakes) in the Lake District

While in the Lake District I wanted to do some light walking but not heavy duty hiking where I could easily get lost and my body not found for days partially eaten by hungry...sheep?  Anyway, you get the drift...not too grueling and safe for a solo walker.  I get a bit nervous when I am too far from civilization. There are lots of books about walking in the Lake District but they seem to be all about walking the fells in remote places...neither Thelma nor I fancied that.  While browsing in the post office/shop in Ambleside one day (if you are ever in Ambleside you must go there - a treasure!) I found a stand of walk descriptions on post cards.  And there I found my walk.  After all who could resist a stroll on the "coffin trail" in William Wordsworth country... I took a look and thought hmm...cafe along the route...that works for me. (with at least the security of knowing there was an available "loo" along the way.)  Okay, I may not have totally followed the

The highlights of my Fall 2023 trip

I'm back home after a great six weeks away. This was a "short" trip for me.  So here we go with an overview of my trip.   London London for me is always a good idea.  I fell in love with it back in the mid 70's and it's been calling me back ever since. Some of the best things in my life have happened in London.  When I learned my two Oz friends Loraine and Linda were going to be in London in the fall I knew I had to be there.  And what fun we had!!  Of course, I did loads of other things as well.  I spent two weeks there from mid September until very early October and then back again for four nights at the end of October before flying home.   After over five years (delayed for two and a half years thanks to Covid) of walking, I finally finished the 126 km Capital Ring.  The picture above is taken at the end of my walk and where I started in May of 2018 at the main door of Streatham Common station just steps from my B and B.  What a walk!  I got to see so much more